Hindi poet Naresh Saxena has announced that he is returning his National Award he received for directing his only film "Sambandh" to protest against the "climate of intolerance prevailing in the country".
He said the citation he received from the jury was very dear to him as it came for his only feature film but he did not want to stand by at a time like this when scientists, artistes and historians were returning their awards.
"It is for the first time that rationalists are being killed for their opinion. It is my symbolic protest against the political climate that encourages such extremism.
"The government is doing nothing to reign in irresponsible statements. The silence of our Prime Minister is selective silence, which is very dangerous," Saxena told PTI.
He denied that his decision to return the award was a publicity gimmick, saying as a poet he did not need that.
"I don't belong to any political party. I have written against Emergency. Emergency was a harrowing time but people were not killed even then," Saxena said.
